Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Once, there was this wonnnnnnnderful girl who was very sad. She was known all across BookLand as a writer of reviews. Alas, her poor temperment could take no more of her website's attitue, so she said "Good bye, horrible," and returned to her old blog. There, she will be happy for ages to come.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Terri Clark has the two best jobs in the world. She works as a teen patron specialist in her local library and has realized her dream of publishing teen fiction for the readers she interacts with on a daily basis. Prior to selling her first book, she worked as a movie critic and entertainment writer, among other things. Terri currently lives in Colorado with her husband, two children, and their dog, Domino. Sleepless is her first novel. You can visit Terri online at http://www.terriclarkbooks.com/.

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How did you decide to become an author?

I've always written. I still have short stories and poems I wrote as a teen. I even have a play I wrote in the sixth grade called THE RED ROSE KILLER. However, I never considered writing as a job, it's just what I did. Instead I went to college and got my Bachelor's of Arts degree in Psychology. It wasn't until I became a stay-at-home mom and found an online writer's community that I started to take writing seriously and think I could do it as a profession. I began by trying to write romance novels and I did a lot of freelance writing. I wrote for everything from bridal magazines to eco-friendly magazines, but my specialty was entertainment pieces, mostly movie reviews. Then by best friend suggested I would be great at writing teen fiction and I gave it a try. I feel like that's where I'm meant to be.

As a child, what did you want to grow up to be?

I toyed with the idea of being a teacher and I secretly yearned to be an actress, but I was painfully shy so that wasn't going to happen. In college I planned to specialize in abnormal psych with crazy plans of sitting across a table with the likes of Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. I was fascinated with their psyches and I even did a detailed research paper on serial killers that both repelled and fascinated me. People like that scared me a lot more after I had children, so I decided to just write scary things instead.

Who or what's your greatest influence?

Wow, that's a tough question. I'd say Meg Cabot was a big influence. It was after reading her 1-800-Where-R-U and Mediator series that I decided to write young adult fiction. My best friend, Lynda Sandoval, a YA author herself, has also been an incredible influence on me as a writer. But, in general, I think I draw inspiration and artistry from everything I read. That's the beauty of reading books, you learn and absorb with every page. I'd also say that working with teens, I'm a teen librarian, and having teens around my house really influences me.

Are you working on something right now?

Yes, a couple things. I have a paranormal romantic comedy that I'm working on that pokes fun at Hollywood, another dark, beach thriller and a funny vampire novel. People should check out my blog (myspace.com/terristake) and website (www.terriclarkbooks.com) for updates.

Have you ever refrained from writing about a certain topic for fear of how others would react to it?

No, never. When I write I let myself go. I write unhindered and tell the story the way it's meant to be. It's after, when other people are reading it, that I tend to freak and worry. Mostly I worry about what my grandma thinks.

What’s your favorite author? Your favorite book?

Favorite authors, I couldn't possibly pick one -- John Green, Meg Cabot, Lynda Sandoval, Kelley Armstrong, Kim Harrison, Gabrielle Zevin, Scott Westerfeld, Karin Slaughter, Rick Riordan, Gail Giles, Laura Weiss and Niki Burnham. As for a favorite book, again impossible to pick one, but there are three that really got to me--Unwind by Neal Schusterman, Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Weiss and Shattering Glass by Gail Giles.

Is there something that I didn’t ask that you wish I had?What one goal you'd really like to achieve?

I'd really like to be known as a favorite (and best-selling) paranormal author among teens.

Thanks so much, Terri!

Quote of the Day:

It's as simple as something that nobody knows That her eyes are as big as her bubbly toes.-- Jack Johnson, "Bubble Toes"

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Dia Calhoun grew up in Seattle, Washington, where she studied ballet for many years. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Mills College with a double major in English and Book Arts. Calhoun returned to Seattle to build a successful career as a freelance lettering and logo artist. Her most visible work is the logo for “Alaska” on the side of Alaska Airlines’ aircraft. She also taught typography and lettering at the Cornish College of the Arts.

Now a full time writer, Calhoun makes frequent school visits to share her work with kids. In her spare time she sings Italian arias, fly-fishes, gardens, and eats lots of chocolate. She lives with her husband, two cats, and two ghost cats in Tacoma, Washington.

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How did you decide to become an author?

I had a dynamite second grade teacher who loved poetry. She helped awaken the love of language in me. We wrote reams of stories and poems in her class. And I read stories voraciously, just gulped them down. Later, I majored in English at Mills College, where I took several creative writing classes. After college I became a freelance graphic artist. A few years later, once my business was established, I began writing every morning for an hour before work. It took me five years to write my first novel, FIREGOLD.

As a child, what did you want to grow up to be?

For ten years I studied quite seriously to be a ballet dancer. When I turned seventeen, I had to choose between college and dancing. This was an agonizing decision (and later it was the inspiration for my fantasy novel, ARIA OF THE SEA.) I chose college.

What is your greatest influence?

My books are influenced by my inner struggles. I write about my own dilemmas in a fictionalized way. For example, THE PHOENIX DANCE was inspired by my bipolar illness. AVIELLE OF RHIA (winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature) was inspired by my psychological reactions to September 11th . WHITE MIDNIGHT by my love of land and desire to own my own land someday.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite book?

My favorite books are the ones I loved to read over and over as a child. The Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher. BALLET SHOES by Noel Streatfeld. A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeline L’Engle. THE WIZARD OF EARTHSEA by Ursula Le Guin. LORD OF THE RINGS by Tolkien. As an adult I found Robin McKinley’s THE BLUE SWORD, a book I reread once a year.

Are you working on something right now?

I just finished a new fantasy novel in four voices. It is my first book in first person, and I loved the challenge of trying to write four different, distinct voices. Currently I’m working on a middle grace fantasy series.

Have your ever refrained from writing about a certain topic for fear of how others would react to it?

Not at all. I’ve refrained from writing one particular novel because I’m afraid of how I would react to it, to all the feelings the writing would dredge up. Some day!

Is there something that I didn’t ask that you wish I had?

I’m tying to give back to my fans by promoting literacy among teen girls. I am one of the four readergirlz divas (with Lorie Ann Grover, Justina Chen Headley, and Mitali Perkins). Readergirlz is an online book community which inspires girls to read, reflect, and reach out. You can learn more at www.readergirlz.com

Monday, September 15, 2008

Emily Black lives a punk rock life. She and her friends in her small town visit River’s Edge most nights, an abandoned building that’s sort of a legend around those parts. Many bands made their start at this teenage music hangout.

When she earns a reputation of the worst kind, Emily takes matters into her own hands and forms her own band with her best friend. Now she’s no longer considered a groupie – she has her own. She Laughs attracts fans from far and wide.

But when Emily wants to leave and expand her own music, her father is upset. After all, Emily was told that her mother left them when Emily was a baby to follow the music. Well, her mother should find her if she is as good as everyone says she is—right?

But what will Emily have to do to get to the top? And what if the reunion with her mother isn’t exactly what she was expecting?

This novel has it all – girl strength, great music, and a powerful message. It would be hard not to be drawn into this story from page one. I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone has found its way to, and has definitely earned a spot on, my recommendation list, and not to mention, my favorites list. I hope to see more soon from Stephanie Kuehnert!

Quote of the Day:

What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books.-- Thomas Carlyle

Friday, September 12, 2008

I never really decided to be an author. Since I was more of a science girl growing up, it never really crossed my mind. Then, after I finished graduate school and was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, I spent a lot of time reading. And the more I read the more I started getting ideas of my own. Ideas of what I would have done differently, what I would have had the characters do. So I decided to try writing a book of my own.

As a child, what did you want to grow up to be?

A million different things. I had a different dream every week, I think. Here’s an abridged list: teacher, architect, fashion designer, actress, environmental biologist, lawyer, doctor, dancer, and mommy.

Who or what’s your greatest influence?

I don’t think I can name a single influence on my writing. I tend to absorb things subconsciously (like the summer I spent at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival when I started speaking in Elizabethan English), so I’m sure I’ve absorbed many influences over the years. I do know that THE LIVELY ART OF WRITING by Lucile Vaughan Payne taunt me a lot about the mechanics of style.

Are you working on something right now?

Yes, but it’s hush-hush and unofficial. I can tell you that it is not connected to OH. MY. GODS. or GODDESS BOOT CAMP (coming June 2009) and that it involves a different branch of mythology.

Have you ever refrained from writing about a certain topic for fear of how others would react to it?

No, and I don’t think I would. I’m a firm believer in the idea that plot is derived from character and so the action of any book will naturally develop from that characters. If my characters ever lead me to a controversial topic, then it must be necessary to the story and I could not ignore that for the sake of avoiding controversy.

What’s your favorite author? Your favorite book?

My default answer is Jane Austen and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, but I have many favorite authors and even more favorite books.

Is there something that I didn’t ask that you wish I had?

What color is your toenail polish?Sparkly Caribbean blue!

Thanks, Tera!Quote of the Day:

A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in a national election... -- Bill Vaughan

Thursday, September 11, 2008

After getting a new laptop for Christmas, our main character decides she is going to start a blog. Therein lays the creation of serafina67. Sera only has a few rules for her blog – no typing in ALL CAPS (except for when she just has to rant about her dad and the “stepmonster”), and no one must EVER speak about the Incident.

So she sets herself a happiness deadline to achieve some goals. She wants to make her mom happy. She (of course!) doesn’t want any repeats of the Incident. She wants to get a boyfriend and make new friends.

So what’s going on between her and patchworkboy? And who is this mysterious person she has befriended, who goes by the name of Daisy? Keep checking back for daily posts!

Okay… I’m going to go ahead and get this out of my system. I know that this is a book about a girl’s blog, but jeez… ever heard of spell check and punctuation? Seriously, lots of people blog, but I don’t see many of them typing this way. I also had a little trouble understanding what she was saying sometimes because of the slang terms.

Now, you may get the assumption that I disliked the book. Well, you’re wrong. Despite all of these things, I was really able to get into the story, and the person behind Daisy really surprised me. If you don’t mind those minor things, you should definitely consider looking into this book!

Quote of the Day:

I love you the more that I believe you have liked me for my own sake and for nothing else.-- John Keats

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Today ... is my birthday. At precisely 10:52am (Central Time) I will be thirty-mumble-mumble. Okay fine, I’ll be thirty-two. Not the end of the world. Right?

It’s a little scary, though. I mean, I’m now officially twice as old as when I got my drivers’ license. (Actually, since I failed the test on my birthday and had to take it again the next day, I’ll be twice as old two days from now.) I’m more than three times as old as when I had my golden birthday, when I turned ten on September 10. I don’t even want to think about how many times older I am than when I had my first real birthday party in first grade.

But the thing is ... I don’t feel old.

An old person doesn’t watch Disney Channel or read Gossip Girl or listen to Kid Rock. They don’t play Neopets or spends hours upon hours watching marathons of Buffy or Hannah Montana. They definitely don’t buy High School Musical water bottles and spiral notebooks.

I was watching an episode of Buffy tonight (the one where Willow casts a spell and everyone loses their memories of everything about themselves) and there was a part where Buffy called Dawn a kid and Dawn said, “A teenager.” And that got me thinking: How did Dawn know she was a teenager? She had no memory of how old she was. She had no ID. She couldn’t see herself. How did she know she wasn’t twelve or twenty.

Think about it. If you closed your eyes and forgot how old you were, could you guess? With no other clues, could you ... feel your age? Would you be right?

If I close my eyes and forget that I’m thirty-mumble-mumble, my brain short-circuits me right back to high school. I might as well be that seventeen-year-old, ready to graduate and take on the world. I still feel that fear and excitement and absolute belief in the future that I felt fifteen years ago. (Only now it’s kind of blurred by the fact that I have to pay bills and act like an adult ... most of the time.)

Maybe that’s why I love writing teen fiction so much. I get to indulge that inner teenager who hasn’t realized that she’s trapped in a grownup’s body. I hope she never does.

Keep your eyes open later this week to learn some more about Tera!Quote of the Day:

I put my faith in you,So much faith and then youJust threw it away.-- Paramore, For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic (Riot!)

Monday, September 8, 2008

Hey guys! You've finally got me back (well... sort of). I'm on a computer in another town right now because guess what? I have power and water, but not cable and internet :[

As soon as I can, I PROMISE that I will flood you guys with reviews.

As for other news....

I just spent like almost four hours checking my email and wading through all my google reader posts. If I didn't read yours, I'm sorry -- I ended up just pressing "mark all as read". It's alot to keep up with!

And I'm sick :[ It's not very fun.

Thanks to Chelsea for making sure that everything was posting right!

I miss you guys, and I hope to have internet back in my home realllllly soon.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

I’m delighted to be here today. Thanks to Megan for having me as a guest! Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Regina Scott, and I write primarily historical fiction, usually set in the nineteenth century in England. My first young adult novel, La Petite Four, is available now in fine stores everywhere. I love the glamour, the interesting stories, the sheer adventure that is the nineteenth century. But when you write history, you have to research.

And that’s a love in itself.

They say write what you know. To write about a historical period, you have to know everything from what they ate to how they got around town to what they called their best friends. I’ve read dozens of books on the Regency period (1810 to 1820 in England), gone to a plethora of museums and conferences, but, for me, head knowledge isn’t enough. I have to experience it.

And that’s led me down some rather odd paths.

I’ve handled nineteenth century dueling pistols in New Orleans. I learned to fence with the epée and once fought a silver medalist from Iran to a draw. I’ve driven a coach and four around the park. I’ve danced to Hole in the Wall and the Sir Roger de Coverly, two famous Regency country dances. I’ve peered through quizzing glasses and laced up corsets. I’ve dressed up like a Regency dandy to prove it was possible for a girl to masquerade as a boy. (And it isn’t as easy as it sounds, believe me!)

It wasn’t until this year, though, that I could do the ultimate research—go to England and experience it for myself. Oh, a lot has changed since the nineteenth century, but there’s so much in England that still reminds me of the period I love so much. For example, the city of Bath holds a lot of its nineteenth century charm. One of the original spa towns, people used to go to bathe in and drink the water that bubbles up from hot springs below. Of course I had to try it.

Besides the obvious places like Spencer House, the home of Princess Diana’s ancestors, there are little known corners of London that whisper of times past. I loved seeing Hyde Park and Rotten Row, where my characters ride their horses, and Bond Street, where they shop. My wonderful critique partner Kristin and I even stumbled into this little alley off St. James’s where we found what must have been a mews at one time. Each of the lower doors would have housed a prized bit of horseflesh for the aristocracy living nearby while grooms and coachmen lived in the upper rooms. Can’t you just see the horses prancing into the yard, so proud, hear the jingle of tack and the call of the grooms? Now, that’s what research is all about, making your story more real!

If you love history or just good stories, be sure to stop by the blog I share with talented author Marissa Doyle. Nineteen Teen (http://www.nineteenteen.blogspot.com) features interesting tidbits about life in nineteenth century England, along with fun quizzes and contests. And my website http://www.lapetitefour.com has articles and more pictures on the Regency as well. Until we meet again, blessings!

Quote of the Day:

If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people.

Monday, September 1, 2008

I loved books so much, and I loved telling stories. Becoming an author was a natural fit.

As a child, what did you want to grow up to be?

An author. I wrote my first novel in the third grade. Thankfully for literature as we know it, it was never published.

Who or what’s your greatest influence?

My faith. I was born again a few years ago, and that’s made me rethink my priorities, my vocation, what I write, and the way I write. Once you start following Jesus, there’s no looking back, only forward.

Are you working on something right now?

I’m trying my hand at a contemporary YA (shock!) about a British teen transplanted to a Florida high school. Hey, I had to get England in there somehow!

Have you ever refrained from writing about a certain topic for fear of how others would react to it?

Not a specific topic. I do have to be careful in writing about history, though, to make sure that the story doesn’t get lost in the historical detail that I find so fascinating. I also take care to choose the right details. For example, I know they had chamber pots and outhouses, and women wore no underwear so they could use those conveniences, but that’s TMI for most people.

What’s your favorite author? Your favorite book?

Oh, this is hard! I have so many favorites on my keeper shelf! One series I’ve read over and over again since I was a kid is the Prydain fantasies by Lloyd Alexander (The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King). Most recently I’ve read Revenge of the Homecoming Queen and Twisted Sisters by Stephanie Hale and laughed myself sick. I just read Shelley Adina’s first book in her new series, It’s All About Us. Friends, fashion, faith. Fantastic!

Is there something that I didn’t ask that you wish I had?

Why write historical stories? There’s something magical to me about the past. The whisper of long skirts, the scent of lavender verbena perfume, the comfort of chamomile tea and raspberry scones. Galloping across the fields, defending your honor by sword, dancing the night away with a handsome viscount at your side. Ah, the stuff of dreams. I hope I get to share them for many years to come.